Finally, a
Boeing
customer has some good news for the plane manufacturer.
Ryanair
CEO Michael O’Leary said Monday that if any U.S. airlines refuse to take delivery of Boeing’s 737 MAX 10 aircraft, the Irish low-cost carrier will buy them instead. O’Leary said that the MAX 10, which is yet to be certified by aviation authorities, was “transformational” during the company’s earnings presentation Monday, Reuters reported.
There’s a slight catch, however. Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan said Ryanair would buy them “at the right price.”
Nonetheless, it’s a show of confidence in the MAX family of jets at a time when others are having their doubts.
United Airlines has held talks with Boeing rival
Airbus
about buying more A321neo jets in light of potential delays to the 737 MAX 10 aircraft, Reuters reported.
United’s
CEO Scott Kirby said last week that the carrier has taken the MAX 10 out of its internal plans, adding that it has become clear Boeing will not be able to meet its contractual deliveries on at least many of those airplanes. The airline has 277 MAX 10 aircraft on order through the rest of the decade. Kirby clarified that United has not canceled the order.
United’s chief financial officer, Michael Leskinen, said the company’s conference call last week that the MAX 9 grounding was the “straw that broke the camel’s back with believing that the MAX 10 will deliver on the schedule we had hoped for.”
“We’re working on alternate plans to see how much higher we can elevate growth with the MAX 10 out,” he added.
Southwest Airlines
said Thursday that it has removed the MAX 7—also yet to be certified—from its 2024 fleet plan. The airline previously expected the plane to enter service later this year.
Alaska Air
is taking a thorough look at Boeing too.
Boeing and Airbus both declined to comment when approached by Barron’s on Monday. United Airlines didn’t immediately respond.
Boeing’s earnings Wednesday will shed light on the impact of the problems surrounding the MAX 9, which returned to the skies Friday.
The jet may be back in the air but Boeing’s MAX issues appear to have a long runway ahead.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
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